18 May 2001

I guess these birds are at the young teenager stage now, so that's why they think they know it all after one or two looks around. Out they hop and get spread out all over the garage falling into boxes and behind coal bunkers and into the carrier on the back of the bicycle. Meanwhile the blackbird parents come back with food and find an empty nest. They go berserk and start flying in and out and all around about looking for these little, you know I'm looking for the right word here and it has come to me, but I'd better not use it lest I offend my readers. Things got so bad that the parents stopped coming in with food for a day or two and I really got worried. Then when I stepped into the garage one day one of the little fellows made an abortive attempt to fly through the glass window of the back door. He finished up on his back on the floor with a serious pain in his head and both legs gesticulating skywards. I picked him up and put him back into the nest where he stayed for quite some time. The Parent birds have concluded that looking for the guys up and down the estate is a total waste of time and have reverted to coming to the garage. Much noise making seems to have coaxed out the little fellows to where they can be seen. Unfortunately they are all in different places and feeding has now become a great problem. However they are working away at it, but at any time I can only account for two of our heros. I wonder where the others are..... Deep dark thoughts..